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Anarchy Reigns: First Impressions

Having recently purchased the title on sale at GameStop for $20 I thought I would write briefly about my experience with the game thus far. Playing Anarchy Reigns gives me hope for more similar titles to follow and if you’ll forgive the pun shows the beat ém up genre still has some fight left in it. With that said I have to say that Platinum studios have crafted yet another solid and enjoyable title through their partnership with Sega. The first thing I have to say about Anarchy reigns is I really love is the character roster which is a total of 17 if you count Bayonetta who is only available as DLC for those lucky enough to have pre-ordered the game. Each character has their own unique personality, move set, weapons and special techniques. While the campaign is long its focus is on two main characters Jack and Leo. The other playable characters are unlocked only through the course of the campaign for use in the online co-op and competitive modes. Combat is simple yet somewhat deep but not the kind of depth that you would find in a standard fighting game. The game world or levels you play in are big and missions unlock as you achieve high scores beating hordes of enemies. Now to the meat of the game which is the online modes. I really appreciate the co-op modes because that’s when it starts to feel like an old school beat ém up. Perhaps my only real complaint in regards to the game was that co-op wasn’t implemented into the campaign. A minor gripe of course and something im sure will be addressed if a sequel (fingers crossed) is ever developed. Competitive mode will take some getting used to as it can be a bit chaotic but fun as all hell to play. Imagine Uncharted 3 but instead of using guns players run around beating the crap out of each other with martial arts. There are other modes for online to talk about but that’s mostly what I’ve played so far with the time I’ve had with the game. The beat ém up genre has been long in need of some resuscitation and Anarchy Reigns is a wonderful step in the right direction. The question is will other developers follow suit? If anything a game like this should have Sega wondering if they should let Platinum develop a sequel to their Streets of Rage series. What about Capcom with their Final Fight? Granted they released a sequel in 2006 but the game was a commercial and critical failure for Capcom. While I do love and appreciate games like Double Dragon Neon and Scott Pilgrim with their old school charm, for the genre to truly thrive it has to have more releases like Anarchy Reigns to innovate and move it forward. Well that’s my first impression of Anarchy Reigns and you may take from it what you will but these are just my opinions. If you’re a beat ’em up enthusiast like myself it’s definitely a purchase and if you’re unsure about it’s at least worth a rental. Got a comment leave it below. If you want to game with me it’s AriesKnight78 on PS3. Game on gamerz!